Zerve Launches New Consumer Platform to Help People Make the Most of
Their Free Time

Builds on 12 Straight Years of B2B Growth and Backing from DFJ, NAV
and Jerry Yang to Arm Consumers with a One-of-a-Kind Web and Mobile
Platform

November 10, 2014 05:17 PM Eastern Standard Time

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Zerve today announced the launch of its new consumer platform. Created
to help people find unique experiences in their own hometowns and while
traveling, Zerve now helps all of us make the most of our free time with
a product that finally answers the age-old question: “I don’t know …
what do you want to do today?”

For over a decade, Zerve has provided the back-end, cloud-based software
that empowers merchants who now offer thousands of unique and exciting
events and activities around the U.S. Zerve also provides the
consumer-facing tools and passionate service team that enable people to
book those events quickly and easily, both online and over the phone,
has helped millions of consumers make decisions and attend events, and
has collected a far greater number of reviews of the SMBs it covers than
any other platform.

The company bootstrapped its way to profitability during its first
decade, having needed only $2 million from a fantastic group of angel
investors along the way. After a few more quiet financings since 2012,
the company has now raised a total of $20 million from leading venture
capital firms DFJ (Menlo Park) and New Atlantic Ventures (DC), as well
as an influential group of top angel investors headlined by Jerry Yang,
the co-founder of Yahoo.

Now Zerve is leveraging its unique data, content and merchant
relationships to solve the biggest problem facing consumers in this
area: how to find what’s happening in the first place and then to choose
from that huge set of options. Zerve’s new product is unique in being
built not just to help consumers find an incredible array of new ways to
spend their free time at precisely the time and place they need it, but
then to efficiently narrow in on and choose the best option for them,
and ultimately to book it quickly and easily.

Zerve currently offers more than 30,000 unique, local things to do
across 32 metropolitan areas in the U.S. They include varied and unique
life-enriching experiences that help people to relax, get active, learn,
laugh, explore, taste or reconnect, and the options run the gamut: sails
and cruises, food and wine tastings, kayaking, tours, shows, hands-on
classes, nightlife, and so much more; even swimming with wild dolphins,
caving, and animal sanctuaries.

“We’re excited to now help people make much better use of their
hard-earned free time and help them avoid being stuck always doing the
same old things,” said Scott Newman, Founder and Executive Chairman.
“People are busy and only getting busier. All of us need somewhere to
turn when we have windows of free time approaching that we want to enjoy
with our family, our friends, on a first date … even by ourselves.
Technology has not yet solved this universal human problem and Zerve
intends to change that. We are equally as thrilled that in launching
this product Zerve will be shining a much brighter spotlight on the
passionate, creative, tireless people that have inspired us, those
business owners and teams that provide these wonderful experiences to
the world.”

Consumers have already been turning to Zerve to help make great use of
their free time. “I spent the summer as an intern in NYC,” said college
student Collier Wimmer, who has been using Zerve’s beta site since June
2014. “I'm originally from North Carolina, so I used Zerve a lot to find
different things to do in the city.”

For years Zerve has been empowering merchants to thrive in ways that
they hadn’t thought possible. “Our partnership with Zerve is one of the
top reasons for our growth,” said Todd Lefkovic, Owner, Foods of New
York. “We use Zerve’s system to manage the whole business, our customers
love Zerve, and their smart and helpful staff has always helped us stay
ahead of the curve. This takes a lot of work off our hands and has
helped our business grow many times over. There is nobody out there like
Zerve; they are in a class of their own.”

About Zerve

Zerve offers more than 30,000 unique local things to do in 32 metros
across the U.S. and empowers a network of merchants who run great local
events and activities to supercharge their businesses. Founded in 2003,
the company has experienced 12 straight years of growth and helped
millions of consumers experience unique ways to spend their free time.
Building on its success, Zerve recently opened an office in the Bay Area
to collaborate with its headquarters in Soho (NY). The company has
raised a total of $20 million from a combination of leading venture
capital firms DFJ (in Menlo Park, CA) and New Atlantic Ventures (in
Washington, DC), and an influential group of top angel investors
headlined by Jerry Yang, the co-founder of Yahoo. For more information
on Zerve, please visit: http://www.zerve.com/